"I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again." ~William Penn

"It's simple things, like a glowing sunset, the sound of a running stream or the fresh smell in a meadow that cause us to pause and marvel at the wonder of life, to contemplate its meaning and significance. Who can hold an autumn leaf in their hand, or sift the warm white sand on the beach, and not wander at the Creator of it all?" ~Wendy Moore (1971- )

“If I can compete with people so much older than me, if I can support my whole family at 15, I can do anything!” Looking back, I wonder, what would have happened if my father had not left my family with nothing? Would I have become the man I am? Who knows? The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the best we can. And WE can play to win! This was one lesson I picked up when I was a teenager. It has been my guiding principle ever since. And I have had 66 years to practice self-determination. When I wanted something, the best person to depend on was myself. And so I continued to work." ~John Gokongwei ($3B) Billionaire Dream (Cebu Pacific, Robinsons Mall, Universal Robina Food Manu. Robinsons Bank.)

"When you have a sense of your own identity and a vision of where you want to go in your life, you then have the basis for reaching out to the world and going after your dreams for a better life." ~Stedman Graham

"FEAR is the mightiest of illusions. It is always in the future. We tear our own souls and limit our hearts over something that hasn't even happened. In owning this truth, I am able to set my spirit free--with mindfulness, determination and compassion." ~Robin Korth

"Getting older . . . What I thought would be the evening of my life is turning out to be the morning of my soul. What an amazing place to be." ~Robin Korth

"If I want a life that has depth and wonder, I must seek to cultivate these qualities within myself. For my life is always a reflection of who and how I am." ~Robin Korth

"It is a joy to be in a sanctuary of peace and birds in the woodland." ~Robin Korth

"Meaning isn't found in my words. It's found in the feelings and thoughts that lie beneath them." ~Robin Korth

"My knowing of the power and grace of my own life is limited only by what I am willing to settle for. I call the journey. I pave the road. The mystery and wonder of each breath is found in my passion for the gift of my soul--this laughing, curious and eternal essence of who I really am." ~Robin Korth

"Our grand boredom as a race means it is time to go somewhere else. It's time to honor and explore the next great frontier of man--the infinity of our soul." ~Robin Korth

"The only person who can make us feel small or unimportant is ourselves--when we accept what others think or say about us as the truth." ~Robin Korth

"There really is no good or bad, right or wrong, left or right. These are concepts and labels created, agreed to and then thought of as "real." I choose to no longer believe things just because everyone else does--this closes down my soul. When I ascribe to these without examining what lies beneath them, I limit my thinking. My mind--the creation point of my spirit--is held hostage. I have chosen to make myself less by my own unquestioned belief system." ~Robin Korth

"To feel guilty about our mistakes is insane. We can't possibly know they are "mistakes" until we make them. So, why beat ourselves up over them? They deserve our thanks instead, as they are wisdom gifts to our souls." ~Robin Korth

"To find true joy and peace within my life, I had to get to know the woman who wanted to feel these things--I had to get to know myself." ~Robin Korth

"Until I got willing to tear the blinders of my mind and push my spirit into new ways of thinking and knowing, I wasn't ever going to have a life that made sense to me--one that held my soul. I would just be doing another "version" of living within the same damned model of reality that was slowly killing me." ~Robin Korth

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VERSES

"A birthday wish for you.
On this blessed day that marks your arrival in this life,
I wish you joy in the wonder of who you are.
I wish the courage and willingness to push your soul
ever-closer to the divine love that calls your name.
I wish you the blessing of self-honesty and the power of awareness.
I wish you a knowing that you are the gift you give to yourself.
You are God realized--as are we all.
Happy Birthday!" ~Robin Korth

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"Let me live all that I am today!
With power, curiosity and grace.
With willingness, courage and love.
With laughter, gratitude and joy.
For tomorrow is never guaranteed."
~Robin Korth

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"To hold my heart in the middle of sorrow,
To anchor my spirit as the tears rise slow,
To know a pain I never expected to greet,
To accept this in my journey to wisdom,
Is courageous grace--brutal and blessed."
~Robin Korth

12/18/14

"What a beautiful tribute! I'd just like to remind the negative people (on this comment stream) that charity is not about money; it is about what you do each and every day to those around you. It's the smile you give to a passer by, it's helping the elderly or disabled to their car, it's mourning with those who are mourning. And this is exactly what the people of Sydney are doing. They are saying they care. They are saying they are not filled with hate, but with love and compassion. This is charity!" ~Naomi Smith (NSW Incident Alerts on Martin Place Memorial Floral Shrine)

"Life is miraculous progressive journey where you need to learn, grow and shine personally and professionally as well as spiritually rising above mistakes, criticisms and countless negative stormy times. Once you follow your inner guidance system then you can rise above any stormy adversities, negative people and unexpected knocks encountering in the highway of your life and success. Actually your inner guidance system has power to create miracles in your personal, professional and spiritual life. So always hear your inner strong calling and utilize your own intelligence to understand the right calling while manifesting your dream desires into physical reality. Never blame others or live with excuses in the highway of life. If you dont feel happy with what you are doing then change it and do what you love to do at any point of life. Finally abundance, happiness,success and prosperity i\ will be reflection of who you become." ~Mastering Relationship With Love

"Regardless of how you feel inside, always try to look like a winner. Even if you are behind, a sustained look of control and confidence can give you a mental edge that results in victory." ~Diane Arbus

“The world has its own ways of treating us like what we will never be, but want to be. It relinquishes its grip on our souls while lulling us with the songs of freedom and conquest of beauty. It magnifies every tiny bit of something useless over an unfathomable presence of humanity. And we all waste the whole of our lives standing in queue for gaining its attention to be abdicated as if we never existed in the eyes of our fellow men.” ~Annie Ali

“When does the dust of life seems to be a golden haze? When the whole gloomy day is manipulated by the ray of light through a lamp, ignited by a person with a surprise of love beneath an act of compassion.” ~Manish Kathuria

“... If the dead can come back to this earth and move unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night—amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours—always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or if the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.” ~Paul Hoffman, The Left Hand of God

12/10/14

"Being alone has the power that very few people can handle." ~Steven Aitchison

"Being close to water brings me closer to my soul." ~Steve Aitchison

"Change your perception and you change your world." ~Steven Aitchison

"Choose your own path, choose your own life and live it according to your rules, not anybody else's." ~Steven Aitchison

"I don't read to pass the time, I read to open up my mind." ~Steven Aitchison

"I would like to thank every single person who has ever been unkind to me. You taught me to be even kinder to others." ~Steven Aitchison

"Nothing is more beautiful than honesty..." ~Steven Aitchison

"Sometimes it feels as if nothing is going your way, and you’re in the middle of a meltdown. Please know that it will pass, and you will come out the other end much stronger than you were before." ~Steven Aitchison

"The lowest points in our life teaches us to reach our higher self, the higher self teaches us not to forget the lowest points." ~Steven Aitchison

"... the strong person, is not to be feared but admired and there is much to learn from this person. Take the time to do so. Your life will thank you." ~Steven Aitchison

"There's so much noise in the world today that we've forgotten to hear the beautiful sound of silence." ~Steven Aitchison

"Time really does seem to fly as we get older, that's because we"ve forgotten to stop for a while to enjoy the time." ~Steven Aitchison

"We all have our own personal roads to travel, it's only when we follow someone else's road that we deviate from our own journey. Be strong and travel your own road." ~Steven Aitchison

"We cannot guarantee an amazing future for our children, but we can bring up amazing children to shape our future." ~Steven Aitchison

"When you become friends with solitude, you will never feel alone again." ~Steven Aitchison

"When you have fought so hard to get back on your feet, don't ever go back to the people who knocked you down." ~Steven Aitchison

12/9/14

"All storms of the heart will come to pass. There’s always a peaceful shoreline and a safe harbor touching all troubled waters. Sail on!" ~Robert Clancy on Healing

"Be strong, things will get better. It might be stormy now, but rain doesn’t last forever." ~Anon

"Beyond the storm is a bright sunrise that reminds us of a new day ..." ~Felizardo Demetillo

"Courage comes the moment you decide to walk through the unavoidable storms in your life rather than sidestepping them. By experiencing whatever it is your soul needs to learn, you earn strength, gain confidence and wisdom to share. Then you are able to encourage and uplift another soul caught in the storms of life." ~Lisa K. Fox

"Don't let every little wind that blows bend and break you! Save your strength for the big storms that come!" ~Eileen Dielesen....the WOMAN WITH A DRE‪AM

"Every hurricane has an eye to remind you that even among life’s most terrible storms, God is still watching over you." ~Robert Clancy

"Every one of us must eventually face the storm." ~Bryant McGill

"Every storm in your life is followed by a rainbow." ~Anon

"Every storm is a school, every trial a teacher." ~Rick Warren

"Every storm runs out of rain." ~Gary Allen

“Home is a shelter from storms – all sorts of storms.” ~William J. Bennett

"I admire people who choose to shine even after all the storms they have been through." ~Anon

"I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship." ~Aeschylus

"I have seen many storms in my life. Most storms have caught me by surprise, so I had to learn very quickly to look further and understand that I am not capable of controlling the weather, to exercise the art of patience and to respect the fury of nature." ~Paulo Coelho

"I thank God for the mountains I have had to climb, the storms I have faced, and the tears I have shed, as they have made me understand how strong I really am and how blessed I am when the road is smooth, the sky is clear, and my soul has a reason to smile." ~Mountain wisdom

"If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm." Mahatma Gandhi

"If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm." ~Frank Lane

"In every life there will be storms; those inevitable moments of uncertaintly, turmoil, and strife." ~Anon

"In the middle of the storm be loving, positive, and honest. It doesn't matter if the storm is of your making or that of someone else that your caught in. You determine if you are positive or not, angry or not, loving, respectful, open, honest or not. I hope you will choose to be positive for yourself and others." ~Michael Huddleston

"Is the beam from a lighthouse affected by howling wind and rain? It remains perfectly steadfast and unaffected by the storm. Your true self is like that. Nothing can ever harm you once you are consciously aware that it is so." ~Vernon Howard

"It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it." ~Amelia Barr

"Keep the faith. Hold on. Things will get better. It might be stormy now, but it can't rain forever." ~Anon

"Marriage is a place of forgiveness that welcomes one home, and arms they can run to in the midst of a storm. It's a grace." ~Darlene Schacht

"No marriage is all sunshine, but two people can share one umbrella and survive the storm together." ~ShiShi Rea-Dancel, FB

"No matter the number of times you fail you must be determined to succeed. You must not lose hope. Don't stop in your storm. Don't give up so easily." ~Tony Narams

"No storm can last forever. It will never rain 365 days consecutively. Keep in mind that trouble comes to pass, not to stay. Don't worry! No storm, not even the one in your life, can last forever." ~Iyanla Vanzant

"Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path." ~Lessons Learned in Life

"Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace despite the storm." ~Anon

"Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches. Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth. Man struggles to find life outside himself, unaware that the life he is seeking is within." ~Khalil Gibran

"Some messages need a storm, to be able to be found." ~Cat Knott

"Storms can bring fear, cloud judgment, and create confusion. Yet God promises that as you seek Him through prayer, He will give you wisdom to know how to proceed. The only way you will survive the storm will be on your knees." ~Paul Chappell

"Storms test the strength of your anchor." ~Reamus Wilson

"Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.." ~Goethe

"The greater your storm,the brighter your rainbow." ~Dr. Libby

"The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too." ~Vincent Van Gogh

"The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights." ~Giotto di Bondone

"There is peace even in the storm." ~Vincent Van Gogh

"We are the captains of our own ships sailing the sea of life, but in times of a stormy weather, you will discover true friends when they don't hesitate to be a lighthouse." ~Dodinsky

"When a storm is coming, all other birds seek shelter. The eagle alone, avoids the storm by flying above it. So, in the storms of life, may your heart soar like an eagle." ~From Native American Encyclopedia

"When someone is going through a storm, your silent presence is more powerful than a million empty words." ~Thelma Davis

"When the storm of life comes howling and raging outside your window; when you look that tempest in the eye, there will be a quickening in your instincts. In that moment, you will burn with aliveness. Your total intelligence knows exactly what to do, because you were made to weather the storms of life." ~Bryant McGill

"When the storm rips you to pieces, you get to decide how to put yourself back together again." ~Bryant McGill

"When you come out of the storm, you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about." ~Haruki Murakami

"You experience the deepest worship in your life in your dark moments, when you weather storms after storms." ~Kyle Reygel Perales

“You know your testimony is strong when your roots are so deep that other people’s storms will never knock you over.” ~Shannon L. Alder

"Your greatest test is when you are able to bless someone else while you are going through your own storm." ~Anon

♥*✿*•♥═════════════♥*✿*•♥

WEATHER

"Don't let every little wind that blows bend and break you! Save your strength for the big storms that come!" ~Eileen Dielesen....the WOMAN WITH A DRE‪AM

"Each of us makes his own weather, determines the color of the skies in the emotional universe which he inhabits." ~Fulton Sheen

"I get my best ideas in a thunderstorm. I have the power and majesty of nature on my side." ~Ralph Steadman

“If you only walk on sunny days you'll never reach your destination.” ~Paula Coelho

"Learn how to distinguish between a quick summer rain and a devastating hurricane." ~Paulo Coelho

"Lighthouses don't get all wobbly when the weather gets rough; they just stand there shining." ~Anon

"Remember, anyone can love you when the sun is shining. In the storms is where you learn who truly cares for you." ~Anon

"Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches. Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth. Man struggles to find life outside himself, unaware that the life he is seeking is within." ~Khalil Gibran

"We are the captains of our own ships sailing the sea of life, but in times of a stormy weather, you will discover true friends when they don't hesitate to be a lighthouse." ~Dodinsky

“We could all take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.” ~Anon

"Learn how to leave your baggage behind, and your home and house. Do whatever it takes, but leave your luggage at the front desk, the airport check in/conveyor, the hotel lobby, in the boot of the taxi, sitting in the rain without a home, leave it out, whatever floats your boat, loose it, it has no place in your brand new open and loving relationship." ~Michael Lane

"Life does not have meaning through mere existence or acquisition or fun. The meaning of life is inherent in the connections we make to others through honor and obligation." ~Laura Schlessinger (Living Life Fully)

"Feelings tell you what to say. Technique gives you the tools with which to say it. Faculty lies in knowing what to do next. To know what to do next, you must master process ... an ordered step-by-step presentation of materials that presses emotional buttons in your reader, so he feels the way you want him to feel." ~Dwight Swain - Techniques of the Selling Writer

"You have this one life. How do you wanna spend it? Apologizing? Regretting? Questioning? Hating yourself? Dieting? Running after people who don't see you? Be brave. Believe in yourself. Do what feels good. Take risks. You have this one life. Make yourself proud." ~Beardsley Jones

"Gestures of kindness, courage, honesty, and love tend to be small and quiet, and most of them are made by ordinary human beings. But these acts create and sustain a dense web of commitment that holds this planet and its people together. The web is so resilient that it will never be completely destroyed, because it is constructed of human goodwill rather than bricks, money, or nationalism." ~Sallirae Henderson (Living Life Fully)

12/6/14

"One aspect of true community is that we respond to the needs of another within our own capabilities. Living in a community consciously, responsibly, and actively provides opportunities for growing naturally in compassion.
Living compassionately in a community means that we care not only about our own advancement, materially as well as spiritually, but also about the well-being of all members, including those at the bottom. Those at the so-called bottom may be far more spiritually rich than those with whom we aspire to consort. . . . there is no limit to how we conceive the expanse of community, only our own thinking." ~Michael Goddart (Living Life Fully)

"Use your growing awareness to focus your spiritual power and reclaim the bliss that your lower mind destroys or prevents you from having." ~Michael Goddart

"A little "appreciation" sometimes does quite as much good as all the conscientious "bringing up" in the world. " ~L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

"Appreciation is a big component of marriage." ~Robin McGraw

"Appreciation is like an insurance policy. It has to be renewed every now and then." ~Dave McIntyre

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John F. Kennedy

"Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times, you grow. Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement. Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character. Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons." ~Troy Amdahl

"Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough." ~Oprah

"Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart." ~Henry Clay

"Ensure you pause each day to savor each moment and appreciate what you love. To fully appreciate life, it is so important to savor, absorb and and appreciate each moment in your life. Whether you are at home, at work, running errands or traveling elsewhere, there is always something to appreciate and love." ~Heather Corinne Lang

"Give this day as much appreciation as you imagine you would give to the best day of your life. If you do this, even for just one hour, you will surely “regain” and “take back” all of the gifts you could so easily have overlooked." ~Robert Holden

"GRATITUDE: A blessing doesn’t grow on a tree; it blossoms in your heart every time you give thanks." ~RobertClancy

“He who thanks but with the lips Thanks but in part; The full, the true Thanksgiving comes from the heart” ~JA Shedd

"Humans of all ages benefit from feeling seen, valued and appreciated in big and small ways." ~Genevieve, The Way of the Peaceful Parent

"Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return.Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you.Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it." ~Ralph Marston

"Sometimes you need to take a break from everyone and spend time alone, to experience, appreciate and love yourself." ~Robert Tew

"Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do which must be done, whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance, self-control, diligence, strength of will, content, and a hundred other virtues which the idle never know." ~Charles Kingsley

"Thankfulness brings you to the place where the Beloved lives." ~Rumi

"...Those who stay clean, just appreciate things." ~Gary Snyder

"When you open your eyes in the morning, sit for a moment and appreciate the gift of a new day, create a peaceful thought and enjoy some moments of silence throughout the whole day." ~Positive Thoughts

"When you start with nothing, you learn to appreciate everything."~Anthony Gucciardi

“With a keen appreciation for the immaterial treasures that bring us closer to God, let us continue to pursue an agenda for genuine change that will be for the best interest of our people. I hope that we cherish with fondness, love and gratitude the spiritual inheritance left by our ancestors and loved ones on their special day." ~President RR Duterte, 1 November 2016

"Today I give thanks for it all,
Though I do not understand much of what I see,
I surrender anyway....
I trust in the Goodness of Life,
I open to the One that breathes me,
To the One who has given me one more day
To feel so alive and free"
~Flora Aube

THANKSGIVING

"What we say about our blessings and how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." ~Anon

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” ~William Arthur Ward

"I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. . . O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment." ~Henry David Thoreau

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest person it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." ~Edward Sandford Martin

"Thanksgiving for me really was a time of being thankful. I think it is great for people of all ages to celebrate the day with good people, good food, and football, but I hope in the midst of our busy lives we have not forgotten the
importance of observing the real reason for the holiday: to give thanks." ~Matthias Reightman

"Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest people; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude." ~E.P. Powell

"Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are." ~Joyce Giraud

"We remember the Pilgrims on Thanksgiving Day, not so much for their turkey dinner, but for the sheer faith that inspired them to give thanks in a year that saw nearly half their number die of sickness. Yet they prayed with thanksgiving." ~Ralph F. Wilson

Source: http://www.livinglifefully.com

MY THANKSGIVING
(Excerpt)
. . .
"Now the trouble with you and me, my friend
Is the trouble with this nation
Too many blessings, too little appreciation
And I know that kind of notion--well, it just ain't cool
So send me back to Sunday school
Because I'm tired of waiting for reason to arrive
It's too long we've been living
These unexamined lives

I've got great expectations
I've got family and friends
I've got satisfying work
I've got a back that bends
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving. . . .

Here in this fragmented world, I still believe
In learning how to give love, and how to receive it
And I would not be among those who abuse this privilege
Sometimes you get the best light from a burning bridge

And I don't mind saying that I still love it all
I wallowed in the springtime
Now I'm welcoming the fall
For every moment of joy
Every hour of fear
For every winding road that brought me here
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

For everyone who helped me start
And for everything that broke my heart
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving."

“A garden should make you feel you've entered privileged space -- a place not just set apart but reverberant -- and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry.” ~Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education

“Culture, when it comes to food, is of course a fancy word for your mom.” ~Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

“Dreams of innocence are just that; they usually depend on a denial of reality that can be its own form of hubris.” ~Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

“Eating is also an ecological act, and a political act, too. Though much has been done to obscure this simple fact, how and what we eat determines to a great extent the use we make of the world - and what is to become of it. To eat with a fuller consciousness of all that is at stake might sound like a burden, but in practice few things in life can afford quite as much satisfaction. By comparison, the pleasures of eating industrially, which is to say eating in ignorance, are fleeting. Many people today seem perfectly content eating at the end of an industrial food chain, without a thought in the world; this book is probably not for them.” ~ Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

“Eating's not a bad way to get to know a place.” ~Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

“For it is only by forgetting that we ever really drop the thread of time and approach the experience of living in the present moment, so elusive in ordinary hours.” ~Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World

“More grass means less forest; more forest less grass. But either-or is a construction more deeply woven into our culture than into nature, where even antagonists depend on one another and the liveliest places are the edges, the in-betweens or both-ands..... Relations are what matter most.” ~Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

“Rule No.37 The whiter the bread, the sooner you’ll be dead.” ~Michael Pollan

"Shake the hand that feeds you.” ~Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

“The green thumb is equable in the face of nature's uncertainties; he moves among her mysteries without feeling the need for control or explanations or once-and-for-all solutions. To garden well is to be happy amid the babble of the objective world, untroubled by its refusal to be reduced by our ideas of it, its indomitable rankness.” ~Michael Pollan, Second Nature: A Gardener's Education

“The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.” ~ Michael Pollan

“The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.” ~Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ” ~Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

“... the way we eat represents our most profound engagement with the natural world. Daily, our eating turns nature into culture, transforming the body of the world into our bodies and minds.” ~Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

“...There's a lot of money in the Western diet. The more you process any food, the more profitable it becomes. The healthcare industry makes more money treating chronic diseases (which account for three quarters of the $2 trillion plus we spend each year on health care in this country) than preventing them. ” ~Michael Pollan, Food Rules: An Eater's Manual

12/5/14

"When you make a mistake in life, or get ridiculed or rejected, look at mistakes as detours on the road to success, and view ridicule as ignorance. After a rejection, take a look at your BAG. B is for Blessings. Things you are endowed with that you often take for granted like life itself, health, living in an abundant country, family, friends, career. A is for accomplishments. Think of the many things you are proud of that you have done so far. And G is for Goals. Think of your big dreams and plans for the future that motivate you. If you took your BAG - blessings, accomplishments and goals - to a party, and spread them on the floor, in comparison to all your friends and the people you admire, you'd take your own bag home, realizing that you have as much going for yourself as anyone else. Always view rejection as part of one performance, not as a turndown of the performer." ~Jim Rohn

"Every phase of our life belongs to us. The moon does not, except in appearance, lose her first thin, luminous curve, nor her silvery crescent, in rounding to her full. The woman is still both child and girl, in the completeness of womanly character." ~Lucy Larcom

"What frustrates you right now will be over one day, and believe it or not, you will miss something about it. So look at your challenges with a degree of appreciation. This may be where you are now, but not tomorrow, and when that time comes you will realise that it all had great purpose in your life." ~Bryant McGill

"For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, for hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see;
Father in heaven we thank Thee.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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"A flower awakens its delicate petals to caress the morning dew, only to dance and rejoice in the precious light of this new day. Isn’t it wonderful that you’re meant to shine in that very same way?" ~Robert Clancy on Enlightened Hearts

"A flower's appeal is in its contradictions - so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect." ~Adabella Radici

"A flower's appeal is in its contradictions — so delicate in form yet strong in fragrance, so small in size yet big in beauty, so short in life yet long on effect." ~Terri Guillemets

"Blossoms adorning the tree and making people smile. The amount of people I have seen pass by this wonderful tree, look up and smile..simply wonderful! What if we were little more like this blossom tree...giving everyone who crosses our path a reason to smile!? Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." ~Marcel Proust

"By cultivating beautiful peace ~ we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers, as by doing good we cultivate those that belong to humanity." ~Vernon Howard

"Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?" ~Maurice Maeterlinck

"Can we speak in flowers? It will be easier for me to understand." ~Nayyirah Waheed

‪"Caring hands grow beautiful flowers." ~Yogi Alejo‬, FB

"Don't wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul." ~Mario Quintana

"Each flower is a soul opening out to nature." ~Gerald De Nerval

"Earth laughs in flowers." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Every flower must grow through dirt." ~Laurie Jean Sennott

"Every flower that blooms has to go through the dirt." ~Treasures from Heaven

"Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night." ~Rainer Maria Rilke

"Faith sees a beautiful blossom in a bulb, a lovely garden in a seed, and a giant Oak in an acorn." ~William Arthur Ward

"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul." ~Luther Burbank

"Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out-values all the utilities of the world." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Flowers are a tool to enlightenment!" ~Michelle Penn

"Flowers are like foods. Instead of flavours, they come in colours, varieties and with fragrant or no fragrant scents." ~Leah C. Dancel, 10 March 2012

"Flowers are the music of the ground, from earth's lips spoken without sound." ~Edwin Curran

"Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into." ~Henry Ward Beecher

"Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts." ~Dodinsky

"Flowers awakened my soul. Flowers brought me into the Present Moment where there is no space for blame, resentment, anger or guilt. A new world opened up to me." ~Michelle, Peace in the Present Moment

"Flowers bring to a liberall and gentlemanly minde the remembrance of honestie, comelinesse and all kindes of virtues." ~John Gerard

"Flowers don't worry about how they're going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful." ~Jim Carrey

"Flowers grow out of dark moments." ~Corita Kent (1918-1986)

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning." ~Lydia Marie Child

"Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them." ~Chinese proverb

"Flowers never emit so sweet and strong a fragrance as before a storm. When a storm approaches thee, be as fragrant as a sweet-smelling flower."~Jean Paul Richter

"Flowers whisper "Beauty!" to the world, even as they fade, wilt, fall." ~Dr. SunWolf

"For myself I hold no preferences among flowers, so long as they are wild, free, spontaneous. Bricks to all greenhouses! Black thumb and cutworm to the potted plant!" ~Edward Abbey

"For there is a sound reasoning upon all flowers. For flowers are peculiarly the poetry of Christ." ~Christopher Smart

"From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity." ~Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)

"Give me odorous at sunrise a garden of beautiful flowers where I can walk undisturbed." ~Walt Whitman

"How flowers can make us grateful and appreciable with life. What more joy can flowers do to us through their magnificent beauties however simple they are made of." ~lcd 29/11/2011

"I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy, but a flower couldn't help but bloom inside me." ~Lupita Nyong'o

"I have gathered a posie of other men's flowers and nothing but the thread which binds them is my own." ~Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

"I like to think a flower opens itself to outgrow its plantedness. That it yearns to be carried away." ~Anon

"I must have flowers, always and always." ~Claude Monet

"I see the world through eyes of love.
I see love in every flower,
In the sun and the moon,
And in every person I meet."
~Louise L. Hay

"I want to be like a sunflower;
so that even on the darkest days
I will stand tall and find the sunlight."
~Anon

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom." ~Audra Foveo

"If you listen, not to the pages or preachers but to the smallest flower growing from a crack in your heart, you will hear a great song moving across a wide ocean whose water is the music; connecting all the islands of the universe together, and touching all you will feel it touching you around you, embracing you with light. It is in that light that everything lives and will always be alive." ~John Squadra

"If you love a flower, don't pick it up. Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love. So if you love a flower, let it be. Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation." ~Osho

"In my garden, after a rainfall, you can faintly, yes, hear the breaking of new blooms." ~Anon

"In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful." ~Abram L. Urban

"In the garden I see only your face. From trees and blossoms I inhale only your fragrance." ~Rumi

"In the hope of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet." ~Albert Schweitzer

"In the language of flowers the white chrysanthemum represents truth and honesty." ~S (Each Day Anew)

"In your heart is a volcano. How shall you expect flowers to bloom?" ~Khalil Gibran

"Is there anything in the world more charming than the way Tulips hold up their little faces to the sun? " ~Nat Davidson, @Nature Delights

"It is at the edge of a petal that love waits." ~William Carlos Williams

"It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees." ~George Eliot

"Just as the flower is not the petal, the hues and colour, our Soul is not just the physical presence we have; but it's beyond the existence of it. Just as a bud becomes a flower; in flowering with all its essence, we must also strive to flower into a beautiful living. And remember the essence of a beautiful life is Love and Kindness." ~V.E.D.

"Little flower, but if I could understand what you are, root and all in all, I should know what God and man is." ~Tennyson

"Little things seem nothing, but they give peace, like those meadow flowers which individually seem odorless but all together perfume the air." ~Georges Bernanos

"Look at us, said the violets blooming at her feet, all last winter we slept in the seeming death but at the right time God awakened us, and here we are to comfort you." ~Edward Payson Rod

"Love's Flowers: Become the flower—soft, colorful, reaching for the heavens. You were born from the morning dew under a starlit sky. Your very essence fills the air with an ocean wonder. Open your petals to the light of this new day so the world may admire all of your beauty." ~Robert Clancy

"Love is a flower that grows in any soil, works it's sweet miracles undaunted by Autumn frost or Winter snow, blooming fair and fragrant all year, and blessing those who give and those who receive." ~Louisa May Alcott

"Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same." ~Helen Keller

"Many people have never learned to see the beauty of flowers, especially those that grow unnoticed. For instance, when you walk outside and look down at your feet, you may see tiny flowers nestled in the moss and clover hiding under a curled fern. Most people just step on them. I paint them." ~Erika Just

"Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants." ~John W. Gardner

"Nothing in nature blooms all year. Be patient with yourself. Deep in their roots all flowers store the light." ~Project Happiness

"Nothing quite like a bright spay of yellow to brighten the winter blues." ~Solo:The Independent Traveler

"Now I believe that lovers should be draped in flowers and laid entwined together on a bed of clover and left there to sleep, left there to dream of their happiness." ~Conor Oberst

"O for a garden of the olden time where none but long familiar flowers grow." ~John Russell Hayes

"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us." ~Iris Murdoch

"Perfumes are the feelings of flowers." ~Heinrich Heine

"Purify yourself and become dust so that from the dust flowers can grow." ~Rumi

"Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless, peacocks and lilies for instance." ~John Ruskin

"Romance ... It's not a place...it's not a dream. Nor is it exclusive to the blissful relationship of a man and a woman made one in love. It is the very dance of life itself...in sunrises and sunsets, in the pulsing firefly stars in the night-sky, in the stretching of grass, the fragrance of blooming flowers flirting with the flying flowers, in the reflection of the universe in the dewdrop clinging to a leaf in the morning mist...it is in the awesome poetry of the living oneness of all in love all around us!" ~Surf Reyes

“She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes. She spoke to no one. She spent hours on the riverbank... and had midnight swims...” ~Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things from Goodreads

"The artist is the confidant of nature, flowers carry on dialogues with him through the graceful bending of their stems and the harmoniously tinted nuances of their blossoms. Every flower has a cordial word which nature directs towards him." ~Auguste Rodin

"The earth laughs in flowers." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life." ~Jean Giraudoux

"The flower is aware of the fact that it contains everything within it, the whole cosmos, and it does not try to become something else." ~Thich Nhat Hanh

"The flower is the poetry of reproduction. It is an example of the eternal seductiveness of life." ~Jean Giraudoux

"The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size." ~Gertrude S. Wister

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all." ~Chinese Proverb

"The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days." ~Robert Leighton

"The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly." ~William Wordsworth

"The fragrance of flowers spreads only in the direction of the wind. But the goodness of a person spreads in all direction." ~Chanakya

"The inner complexity and form of a flower is awe-inspiring." -Anon

"The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world." ~Anon

"The moon looks upon many night flowers; the night flowers see but one moon." ~Jean Ingelow

"The nature of This Flower is to bloom." ~Alice Walker

"The next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leaves you speechless... remain that way, say nothing and listen as heaven whispers, 'Did you like it? I did it just for you.'" ~Max Lucado

“The silence of a flower: a kind of silence which we continually evade, of which we find only the shadow in dreams." ~Lewis Thompson

"The splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness." ~Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)

"Their elegant shape, showy colours, and slow, sailing mode of flight, make them very attractive objects, and their numbers are so great that they form quite a feature in the physiognomy of the forest, compensating for the scarcity of flowers." ~Henry Walter Bates

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." ~Henri Matisse

"There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon." ~Matsuo Basho

"'Tis liberty alone that gives the flower Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume; And we are weeds without it." ~William Cowper on Liberty

"To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat." ~Beverly Nichols

"To wander in the fields of flowers pull the thorns from your Heart." ~Rumi

"We are all treading the vanishing road of a song in the air, the vanishing road of the spring flowers and the winter snows, the vanishing roads of the winds and the streams, the vanishing road of beloved faces." ~Richard Le Gallienne

"We grow like flowers, and bear desire, The odor of the human flowers." ~Richard Henry Stoddard

"What she did was to open our eyes to details of country life such as teaching us names of wild flowers and getting us to draw and paint and learn poetry." ~Laurie Lee

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable." ~Joseph Addison

"When a flower doesn't bloom you fix the environment in which it grows not the flower." ~Alexander Den Heijer

"When mindfulness embraces those around you, they will bloom 1ike flowers." ~Anon

"When words fail, flowers console..!" ~Anon

"Where flowers bloom so does hope." ~Lady Bird Johnson

"Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn't room for any other thought." ~Sophie Scholl

"Why do some people always see beautiful skies and grass and lovely flowers and incredible human beings, while others are hard-pressed to find anything or any place that is beautiful?" ~Leo Buscaglia

"With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy." ~Lope de Vega

"You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. So be sure to stop and smell the flowers." ~Walter C. Hagen

"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." ~Pablo Neruda

"You can see the goldenrod, that most tenacious and pernicious and beauteous of all New England flora, bowing away from the wind like a great and silent congregation." ~Stephen King, 'Salem's Lot

"Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every colour and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance." ~an imaginary view of a blind patient told to another patient in exquisite details sourced from the article of Encouragement.

"Your minds may now be likened to a garden, which will, if neglected, yield only weeds and thistles; but, if cultivated, will produce the most beautiful flowers, and the most delicious fruits." ~Dorothea Dix

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RELATED QUOTES

"Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom.” ~Gabriel García Márquez

"Normality is a paved road; it's comfortable to walk but no flowers grow." -Vincent Van Gogh

VERSES

"Around the pillars of the palm-tree bower
The orchids cling, in rose and purple spheres;
Shield-broad the lily floats; the aloe flower
Foredates its hundred years."
~Bayard Taylor, Canopus

༺❀༻༺❀༻

"Be flowers
In these troubled times
smoked out with coal
Be roses and lilies."
~Charles Cros

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It's nearly spring...A Sonnet for Springtime.

Gazing with love at the world around me
Seeing the flowers in full bloom
A kaleidoscope of colours in harmony
Washing away Winter's gloom
Suddenly life erupts noisily in the air
A flurry of forms all excited
That the world is renewed
by Nature's tender care...
(www.fictionpress.com)

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"Now thin mists temper the slow ripening beams
Of the September sun: his golden gleams
On gaudy flowers shine, that prank the rows
Of high-grown hollyhocks, and all tall shows
That Autum flauntreth in his bushy bowers..."
~Robert Seymour Bridges from "The Garden in September," (1914)

"The flower offered of itself
And eloquently spoke
Of Gods
In languages of rainbows
Perfumes
And secret silence..."
~Phillip Pulfrey

“There is a flower, a little flower
With silver crest and golden eye,
That welcomes every changing hour,
And weathers every sky.”
~James Montgomery on Daisies

"The knowledge of what has always been, remains in us,.. When we follow our hearts, when we are in tune and balanced, and when we listen to the still inner voice within . . . we 'know.'" ~ Betty J. Eadie

"Let's live LIFE and enjoy every moment as much, while we stll can. Let's enjoy the PRESENT, another name for GIFT...that we receive as long as we live. Yesterday is gone and nobody knows what the future holds for us." ~Leticia M. Dancel

"The world has enough beautiful mountains and meadows, spectacular skies and serene lakes. It has enough lush forests, flowered fields and sandy beaches. It has plenty of stars and the promise of a new sunrise and sunset every day. What the world needs more of is people to appreciate and enjoy it." ~Michael Josephson

MY SOUL

"I am not this hair I am not this skin I am the soul That lives within." ~Rumi

FRIENDSHIP

"I am dressed with friendship." ~Rumi

THE BLOGGER

"The die is cast." ~Julius Caesar

AUTHOR

❤Heavenly Father, no matter what comes my way, please help me give this day completely over to You!❤

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, as I thank You this morning for the gift of life, I also thank you for the gift of wonderful people I have met along this journey. Some of them inspire me, some stretch me, challenge me, love me and encourage me. All of them help me to realize how beautiful and meaningful my life is. Bless every person here with good health, security, wealth, peace, joy and success. Grant their prayers too please. Amen.

BRIGHT LIGHT

"You are a bright light in the world and give love to those who need it most." ~Nametests

PUREST PLACE IN YOUR HEART

"Retrace your steps and go back to the purest place in your heart… where your hope lives." ~Everwood (Trust Your Journey)

"To a Poet" by Alexander Pushkin

"No poet should set store by public acclamation. Ecstatic praise will pass, an instant in the ear; The empty crowd will laugh, the fool will have his oration, But you must stay quite calm, unbending, and austere."

As I Am

“Maybe our favorite quotations say more about us than about the stories and people we're quoting.” ~John Green

TRUE LOVE

"You are the road of love and at the end my home." ~Rumi

FOREVER LOVE

"May the dawn of each new day bring great promise and inner strength." ~from Native Americans

Random Moment

"Be bold enough to use your voice, brave enough to listen to your heart, and strong enough to live the life you've always imagined." ~Anon

Sydney Opera House 40th Anniversary

"Today should always be our most wonderful day!" ~Thomas Dreier

Live Life to the Full

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Most Memorable Journey

"With the new day, comes new strength and new thoughts." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

International Fleet Review

"I still laugh at life no matter how tough it can get." ~Leah C. Dancel,( 3-11 October 2013

A Tribute to Cancer Survivors

In Support to Marvin Lane of The Rhyming Place

All photographs, unless noted, are my copyrights.

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place." ~Elliott Erwitt

Quotes are sourced from the Inspiration Line founded by Chelle Thompson, The Friendship Book of Francis Gay, The Happy Guy by David Leonhardt, Quotes by People on Stamps, Inspirational Quotations by Barbara J Olson and from other various sources that trickle my quotable interest.

"A fine quotation is a diamond on the finger of a man of wit, and a pebble in the hand of a fool." ~Joseph Roux

"While I gather storm of quotations, nothing inspires me most than those contained in The Bible ... Timeless!" ~Leah C. Dancel

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"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving " ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“What is it in the melody of sound...which calls such visionary beauty forth from every tone?” ~R.E. Salaman

"The thoughts of the day become the dreams of the night." ~Anon

"Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!" ~Lawrence G. Lovasik

༺♥༻༺♥༻༺♥BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS

Inspiring and uplifting thoughtsBring beauty to the mind,By dwelling on the positive,What's joyful, happy, kind.Courage and enthusiasm,Cheerfulness and grace,Radiating from withinAll show upon the face.

Reflecting on the beautiful,What's pure and good and true,Embracing all the world of wonderThat's surrounding you.Hope, contentment, peace and love,Your thoughts can soar on wings So let the life within your mindBe filled with lovely things.

~Kathleen Gillum ~༺♥༻༺♥༻༺♥

~ Max Ehrmann ~

A Prayer

Let me do my work each day;and if the darkened hoursof despair overcome me, may Inot forget the strengththat comforted me in thedesolation of other times.

May I still remember the brighthours that found me walkingover the silent hills of mychildhood, or dreaming on themargin of a quiet river,when a light glowed within me,and I promised my early Godto have courage amid thetempests of the changing years.

Spare me from bitternessand from the sharp passions ofunguarded moments. MayI not forget that poverty andriches are of the spirit.Though the world knows me not,may my thoughts and actionsbe such as shall keep me friendlywith myself.

Lift up my eyesfrom the earth, and let me notforget the uses of the stars.Forbid that I should judge otherslest I condemn myself.Let me not follow the clamor ofthe world, but walk calmlyin my path.

And though age and infirmityovertake me, and I come not withinsight of the castle of my dreams,teach me still to be thankfulfor life, and for time's oldenmemories that are good andsweet; and may the evening'stwilight find me gentle still.

(The Desiderata of Happiness)

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,and remember what peace there may be in silence.As far as possible without surrender be on good termswith all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly;and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant;they too have their story.Avoid loud and aggressive persons,they are vexations to the spirit.If you compare yourself with others,you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.Keep interested in your own career, however humble;it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.Exercise caution in your business affairs;for the world is full of trickery.But let not this blind you to what virtue there is;many persons strive for high ideals;and everywhere life is full of heroism.Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection.Neither be cynical about love for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.Take kindly the council of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.But do not distress yourself with imaginings.Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.Therefore be at peace with God,whatever you conceive Him to be.And whatever your labours and aspirations,in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,it is still a beautiful world.Be cheerful, strive to be happy.

PROTECT ME O LORD

Psalm 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.

"When you find time on your hands, put them together in prayer." ~Our Daily Bread

"Remember the day's blessings; forget the day's troubles"~Anon

GREATER BLESSINGS

"Every pain that you learn to tolerate leaves you healthier than it found you" ~G. Teodoro, Jr.

PEACE

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

DREAM ON

"Every dream that you left behind is a piece of your future that won't exist." ~Steve Jobs

FLY AWAY HOME

Au revoir to the LAND of LONG WHITE CLOUDS

MY PLACE FOR SERENITY

... be quiet, please...

Written in the Sand

"Keep dreaming and create reality." ~Kristian Kan

NO EXPLANATION

"Beauty is a form of genius — is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon." ~Oscar Wilde

LAO TZU

Tao Te Ching

AUTUMN

"Seasons change and so do you. Trust the rhythms of your life." ~Project Happiness

KNOW THYSELF

"To know others is wisdom, to know oneself enlightenment." ~Lao Tzu

MY WORLD

"The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself." ~Michel de Montaigne

COMPANION

"Fortunate is he who does not carry envy as a companion." ~Rumi

VALORIZAR CADA MOMENTO

"May you be Strengthened by Yesterday's rain, Walk straight in Tomorrow's wind, and Cherish each moment Of the Sun today." ~Ojibwa Prayer

Naturally Homegrown

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." - Confucius

BEST WISHES TO MY GUESTS

"The best feeling in the world is being loved back by the person you love." ~ Anon

2015

"A book of quotations can never be complete." ~Robert M. Hamilton

SUNSHINE IN AUTUMN

“There is no remedy for love but to love more.” ~Henry David Thoreau

VERMILLION SEAL

"The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind." ~Albert Einstein

PRECIOUS GIFT

"I look at life as a gift of God." ~Joyce Cary

LIVE WELL

"Daily find something to laugh about. A sense of humor and a good belly laugh relieves stress, inspires hope, keeps you alert and connects you to others." ~Total Body Wellness

From My Desk

I feel so honoured to find that there are websites who sourced some of their materials from my blog as I have sourced mine from others. It is great to be able to channel some wonderful thoughts of my great friends to be shared to many others, hoping it will give them some uplifting words to live by.

Learning words of wisdom from people helps me to be philosophical and practical in my approach to life. Of course, I follow my own conviction trying not to compromise any conventions. I certainly do not lean on my own understanding either. We all need divine inspired guidance. My parents were my first teachers who taught me some "nuggets of wisdom". To them, I am indebted my knowledge of life to which they molded my intellectual and spiritual well-being.

Prayer

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” ~Reinhold Niebuhr

"Prayer is an essential tool for us to talk with God and to build a closer relationship with Him, so we can become more like our Father. " ~Douglas S Winnail

"Prayer is our pathway not only to divine protection, but also to a personal, intimate relationship with God." ~ Shirley Dobson

"Prayer is the wing wherewith the soul flies to heaven and meditation the eye wherewith we see God." ~ Ambrose of Milan

"Having a life time of prayer, talking to God become natural as breathing...it's the presence of God ... moment by moment reality" ~ Anon

"Prayer is and remains always a native and deepest impulse of the soul of man." ~ Thomas Carlyle

"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart." ~John Bunyan*****"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." ~ Charles M. Schulz

Content and Honour

"O God, help us to perform our duties with laughter and kind faces; and let cheerfulness abound with industry. Give us to go blithely on our business all this day, and bring us to our resting beds weary and content and undishonoured; for Jesus Christ's sake." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

About Me

"To thine own self be true, , Thou canst not then be false to any man."~ William Shakespeare

A Hebrew origin, means 'the joyous one'

Leah is magnetic and seductiveShe carries a sense of her own powerShe has a great skill for teaching othersShe sees the ironies of life all too clearlyHer capacity for sympathy is celebratedShe is a mistress of persuasionHer strong powers of endurance set her aloftHer home is haven of securityShe may be prone to exhibitionismNothing is free from her scrutiny.

Leah ~ also means "weary" relinquishing her heart to love, for she is a hopeless romantic, putting others before herself, for she knows no other way but to give a helping hand, her reassuring smile is there for all to see, no cause is too great, for giving up is unknown to her, she loves a challenge to do her best.

You are calm and rational.You are also GIVING and KIND - a Great FRIEND.You are EASY GOING and TRUSTING.However, you are too SENSIBLE to fall for MIND GAMES.

,Lily

You are artsy and elegant. Your imagination allows you to place yourself in other people’s shoes, which allows you to easily understand and sympathize with those around you.

❤❤❤

"What is a friend? I will tell you, it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself." ~Frank Crane

"The essence of a perfect friendship is that each friend reveals himself utterly to the other, flings aside his reserves, and shows himself for what he truly is." ~Robert Benson

"Beauty is power; a smile is its sword." - John Ray

"A woman whose smile is open and whose expression is glad has a kind of beauty no matter what she wears."~Anne Roiphe

"Basic beauty lies in the way a woman walks; it is health and an attitude to life." ~Nancy Astor "Goodness is beauty in the best estate." ~Christopher Marlowe

"Integrity reveals beauty." ~Thomas Leonard

"Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart and the second in a laborer's hand." ~Khalil Gibran

“Real beauty is about looking life right in the face and seeing all its magnificence reflected in your own.” ~Valerie Monroe"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside."~Denis Waitley

It's not wise to count your friendson a bright sunny day,when the sky is blueand smiles come so easily.

Instead wait for a storm,when the clouds are dark andthe day grows cold,and laughter is not heardin your heavy heart.

Then when a friend comesand stands beside youand lifts your spirits to the skyand laughter is in your heart,he or she deserves the name ...

FRIEND.

Thank you, my Friend,for braving the storms with meand for making the sunny days so much brighter.

You are You

You are strong when you take your grief and teach it to smile.

You are brave when you overcome your fear and help others to do the same.

You are happy when you see a flower and are thankful for the blessing.

You are loving when your own pain does not blind you to the pain of others.

You are wise when you know the limits of your wisdom.

You are true when you admit there are times you fool yourself.

You are alive when tomorrow's hope means more to you than yesterday's mistake.

You are growing when you know what you are but not what you will become.

You are free when you are in control of yourself and do not wish to control others.

You are honorable when you find your honor is to honor others.

You are generous when you can take as sweetly as you can give.

You are humble when you do not know how humble you are.

You are thoughtful when you see me just as I am and treat me just as you are.

You are merciful when you forgive in others the faults you condemn in yourself.

You are beautiful when you don't need a mirror to tell you.

You are rich when you never need more than what you have.

You are you when you are at peace with who you are not.

~Anon~

*****

Stand Up in For Yourself;Stand Up and be Yourself

Stop hiding!Stop holding yourself back and playing yourself down!Stop worrying about how you look and what people are saying.Stop listening to what people are saying and trying to find out if they are whispering about you.Stop waiting for someone to tell you that you are okay or to make you feel special.Life is special!It is a special gift.This is your life!Now take your gift and live it out in the open!Decide today that you are going to live out loud!

Living out loud means having the courage to be exactly who you are without apology.It means admitting your mistakes without beating yourself up.It means not taking who you are and what you have for granted.Release all shame!Release all guilt!You cannot live out loud if you are hiding behind what was.Living out loud means focusing on what is, right now, and that is you!

To live out loud means showing up as your authentic self, without your makeup or your toupee.It means acknowledging your shortcomings and celebrating your strengths.Living out loud means broadcasting your needs, your likes and your dislikes as they relate to your fears and frustrations.It means that you let people know exactly who you are and expect them to be as thrilled as you are about who you are.

In order to live out loud you must have faith in yourself and in the process of life.You must have principles you live by and standards by which you can govern and gauge yourself.Most important, in order to live out loud you must love yourself enough to tell yourself and everyone else the absolute truth about you.When you can do that, you can live out loud and be very proud about what the world will hear about you.

Until today, you may have been living your life in a whisper.Just for today, take one step toward pumping up your volume.Stand up in yourself! Stand up and be yourself!

~Iyanla Vanzant~

TO WONDER

To wonder, to know,

To explore, always asking:

What am I?

Who am I?

What will become of me?

Of my knowledge?

Am I squandered on the world?

Cheapening existence through vanity?

How long before I am fit to say, I know this!

Rather than, I think this.

That in itself questions self,

Whether our thought and mind is

Our own knowledge and assurance.

At what point in time do we stop marching?

Pencil upon paper, sight upon colour and light.

A fixation upon what we comprehend

And that, which is incomprehensible.

Are we gambling with the gifts we are given?

Are they gifts?

The ability to question choice, life, the air we breathe;

The sun, the moon, clouds, stars, the earth, wind, rain, height.

Re-reading leads.

Random, our teachers abandon us,

Fending for all you are on your own

'Tis a lonely path all humans follow, trying to fill the void

With relationships, contact with others, family, friends.

I advanced myself only through victory.

Victory against what?

If there’s nothing to fight against,

How do we advance at all?

Do we fight against self-doubt?

From the Original Manuscript Written by Lily

Poetic Concept:

Copyright@2008, LD, All rights reserved.

Remember today all the blessings you have

Remember today that you are alive.Sometimes we tend to forget.You have a purpose that is all your own.No one else is you.You have dreams and hopes and desires.Listen to your heart for a while.

Remember today all the blessings you have.There's beauty in every direction you look.Enjoy the abundance that is already yours.The world is a wonderful place and you're here.

Remember today that you get what you give.Your world is a mirror of your inner self.Love will be yours when you give it away.

Remember today that life is creation.As long as you live you can always contributeyour own special voice.Remember today is a special time.Make the best of it while you can.

A VANISHED FRIEND

Around the corner I have a friend,In this great city that has no end,Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,And before I know it, a year is gone.

And I never see my old friend's face,For life is a swift and terrible race,He knows I like him just as well,As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine but we were younger then,And now we are busy, tired men.Tired of playing a foolish game,Tired of trying to make a name.

'Tomorrow' I say! 'I will call on JimJust to show that I'm thinking of him.'But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner, yet miles away,'Here's a telegram sir,' Jim died today.'And that's what we get and deserve in the end.Around the corner, a vanished friend.

~Anon~

Remember to always say what you mean. If you love someone, tell them. Because when you decide that it is the right time it might be too late.

Seize the dayNever have regrets.And most importantly,stay close to your friendsand family, for they have helpedmake you the person that you are today.

SMILE, even through your tears! ~JBY

~•✿•~ ~•✿•~

BEAUTY

It is when beauty arrives,

To wake us up and come alive,

Guide our eyes to the sky,

To look within and we will shine.

Keep the flame of hope burning bright,

To see our inner light come to life,

And then the winds blow and we begin to breathe,

To hold that moment that never leaves.

Seek the beauty within the world,

Grasp the life we hold deep inside,

Embrace everything from our soul,

Until we reflect the light from our eyes.

The light gives life to the colours of change, Blending into one that remain the same, Adorning the blue stained sky,

Dreams reign high while clouds entwine.

And the depths of the ocean below,

Reflects our tears through rain and snow, Crystallised in the blink of our eyes,

A momentary glimmer of the radiant light.

Stars awaken as we look above,

And pain slowly fades to love,

Reawakened as we morph to dust,

And dissolve in all that is and ever was.

We reveal of what is inside,

Within the lineaments of our soul,

A beauty mirrored from our eyes,

It is a teardrop filled with the world.

Beauty is the essence of the heart,

As love is expressed into an art,

A light that is born that guides us home,

A dream that dawns of all we've known.

A birth into the unborn again,

A commencing where all become still,

A starting where we stopped to rest,

A momentary time that we fulfill.

Patrick Graven

FB

The day is DONE

The day is done,

it cannot be changed.

My actions and my thoughts

reflected my own spirit

on this day of some,

I am proud,

of some I am not.

When I wake,

there will be new chances...

To think and act

with wisdom and compassion.

There will be new temptations

to be petty,

small or selfish...

May I choose wisely and well

from waking to day's end...

And be a blessing to all I meet.

~Anon~

~•✿•~ ~•✿•~

We Are Collective

Let the real revolution begin.

This is a fight to save our country's future.

To salvage the gains we have so far achieved

when we decided to put the right man in Malacanang.

To ensure that everything he does

and all he has accomplished will bear fruit

instead of simply going to waste.

To cut our ties of dependence to oligarchic structures

whose only desire is to enslave us.

To chart our own course.

Fueled by a longing to break free from the past.

To see a country where we all enjoy real economic progress.

To see the day when Filipinos do not need to migrate.

To stand proudly among the brotherhood of nations.

Not as beggars but as equals.

Duterte has shown us the way.

But evil forces conspire to block that path.

Using every weapon in their arsenal to fool and deceive us.

This we cannot allow.

Because we are Legion.

We are the Multitude.

We are Collective.

"A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty." ~Anon

"The voice of the Lord is the voice of common sense, which is shared by all that is ~Samuel Butler (1835 - 1902)

May the sun bring you new energy by day.May the moon softly restore you by night.May the rain wash away your worries.May the breeze blow new strength into your being.May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.